Background
Gilberto François Croes was born on January 25, 1938, to Francisco and Maria Louisa Croes.
Gilberto François Croes was born on January 25, 1938, to Francisco and Maria Louisa Croes.
He went to primary and secondary schools in Aruba and then traveled to the Netherlands, where he obtained an undergraduate degree from Hilversum University.
He returned to Aruba and worked as a schoolteacher for many years. Croes' political involvement began in 1967 when was elected to the island council and was appointed minister of education. In 1954 the Netherlands had granted autonomy to the islands of Curasao, Aruba, Bonaire, St. Maarten, and Saba. As part of this power, the islands united in a federation with a central administration based in Curasao.
Although this constituted a step toward self-government, the people of Aruba resented Curacao's having control over the federation through its large majority in the Federation Council Curasao had eight votes in the council and Aruba only had five, a major source of political tension between the two Caribbean islands. Although Croes initially was a member of the Arubaanse Volkspartij (Aruban People's Party), which had a Christian democratic orientation, he became disenchanted with the conservative stand of his party on the issue of self-rule and independence.
On December 31,1985, the eve of one the most important milestones in Aruba's political history, Croes was badly wounded in a traffic accident. The injuries left him in a coma for 11 months. He died on November 28, 1986.
Croes founded the Movimiento Electoral di Pueblo (People's Electoral Movement) in 1971. The party, a member of the Socialist International, followed a social democratic ideology advocating the rights of the people and was identified with the working class. One of the defining issues of the party was its desire to attain full independence from the Netherlands. Like Norman and Michael Manley of Jamaica, Croes exploited Aruban nationalism and gained support from his people by appealing to Aruban culture, its Papiamento language, and its national symbols. The party proposed to seek "status aparte" from the Netherlands. This political concept was meant to eliminate Aruba's problematic membership in the Netherlands Federation and to gain full independence from the Dutch colonial government. With Croes at the helm, the party won the 1975 elections and gained control of the Aruban parliament. It also led Aruba's representation in the Netherlands Federation. The party was to win the majority of the local elections six times during Croes' lifetime.
Croes' vocal activism in favor of Aruba's independence brought him political persecution by members of opposing parties. In 1977 his parents were harassed by people associated with the opposition party and their house was ransacked. While participating in a political demonstration in 1983, he was shot by a local policeman who claimed that Iris party did not have the proper permits to hold the demonstration. Doctors performed surgery in Aruba and transported him to Miami, where he had another operation. Despite the fact that the government appointed a commission to investigate the incident, no formal charges were brought against the police.
During the late 1970s, Croes built alliances with Latin American countries and the United States to bring independence to his homeland. He told London's Fi-nancial Times: "Colonialism doesn't fit our time. We are Latin Americans ruled by a European country. We have a certain amount of autonomy but not in vital matters" ("Profile: Betico Croes" 1982,5). Croes' political and diplomatic relationships with Cuba concerned and angered the government of the Netherlands. He organized a referendum in 1977 in which the people of Aruba voted to become independent. By the early 1980s, Croes had gained enough political momentum to force the Netherlands to negotiate with him. In 1983 tire Netherlands finally agreed to grant"self-goveriring" status to Aruba. This status allowed them to separate from the other islands. The initial agreement allowed for Aruba's full internal government and stipulated that Aruba would become fully independent by 1996.
During the mid 1980s, Croes lost political support in the country as the economy of the island went into a recession when Lagos, a major oil refinery processing Venezuela's oil, closed. The refinery was the most important source of employment for the island and was affected by the new refineries built by Venezuela. The economy also suffered from a significant drop in the tourism industry, another leading source of revenue. When elections were held in November of 1985, Croes lost the majority of the parliament to Henny Eman. On January 1, 1986, Aruba became a self-governing island within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Eman became the prime minister.
Croes has 2 sons, Glenbert and Gilberto Junior Croes and 2 daughters Glendeline-Croes and Guisette Croes.
